Review: Tarte Carried Away Collection (Holiday Palette 2012)

Yes yes, it’s time for another holiday palette review! It’s my favorite time of year as I get to buy all these amazing palettes by all the major makeup companies and do a big comparison for you all. I pick my top winner for “holiday palette of 2012″ then do a review of each one that I bought.

This review is for the Tarte Carried Away Collection- a travel set of makeup that includes eyeshadows, blush, mascara, powder, and a brush.

My first thought when I saw this in Sephora was “ooh… I love the packaging!” I love how unique this one was compared to the other holiday sets as it came in a cute bag with a mirror and pretty much everything you need to do a makeup look. You can always take this as a travel set and throw in your foundation, concealer, and couple brushes, and you’re all set.

This set includes:

Blush in “Adventurous” – a shimmery rose color

Travel size clear face powder

Travel size mascara

Blush/face brush

8 mini lipglosses

24 eyeshadows

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The eyeshadows are great quality- very pigmented, smooth, and easy to blend. There’s a great variety of colors ranging from neutrals to metallics to more vivid colors. My only complaint is there aren’t enough blending colors (like a medium tan or muted purple in matte finish). There’s 4 matte finishes and 20 shimmers- I’d like to see a bit more matte colors as I hate looking like a disco ball with all that glitter ;)

The lipglosses are also great quality- somewhat tacky, but not “stick to my hair on a windy day” type tacky. There’s a great variety in colors and finishes- 4 shimmery ones and 4 satin finish. They smell a bit minty, so that’s always a plus after drinking some Starbucks (hey, gotta hide the coffee breath). My favorite color is the medium pink one called “Mel”.

I honestly haven’t tried Tarte’s face powder yet as I have UBER sensitive skin and am scared to do too many foundation and powder reviews anymore :( BUT, I love love love their blushes- the only ones on the market that don’t seem to break me out. “Adventurous” is a shimmery rose color with specks of gold that would be best for fair to medium skin. The brush is very soft and seems like great quality- the shape is a generic one and I would probably only use for blush.

My favorite part of this set is honestly the packaging! Love how the eyeshadow palette is hidden behind the mirror, and there’s pockets on both sides to hold all my stuff for travel. Overall, I would say to get this set especially for someone just starting out in makeup as it has almost everything you need. Price is great too for all the things you get.

I had swatched it in the store on my arm and loved it so much I bought it, however by the time I got a few blocks away (just walking not sweating or anything) the eyeshadow had dramatically faded from those rich tones I just saw! I was so upset I returned it. I’m surprised everyone is raving over this set I wouldn’t spend $55 on eyeshadows that can’t even last ten minutes without a primer!!

I would have totally bought this as a travel set, Ive been wanting to try more Tarte makeup lately. I was doing some palette research on my own and came across the SMASHBOX studio pop palette that is exclusive to ULTA, $59, and OMG- Marliena I do so hope that its on your review list! Not to be confused with the SMASHBOX masterclass palette that is exclusive to Sephora. that one is great as well but its the same price as the one @Ulta, except it has only 1/2 as much color selection and product inside. And by the way, your eyes look super green in this video, you are looking more radiant than ever, like the clock has been stopped on you!

Hey Marlena,
I bought this tarte kit because you gave it such a great review and I wanted to try out tarte products. I am new to being creative with e/s so I am having trouble with putting on this e/s. It is very light when i put the product in my eyelids. So my question is how did you get the colors so pigmented on the swatches your are showing in this review?

Extremely happy with this I lucked out and got it on Ebay for $70 – it is worth every penny! I have to say, I am going to be using the Tarte line quite frequently now. Just starting to collect some of their blushes too.